The men, believed to be students aged 20 and 25, jumped into the surf to rescue their female companion when she was washed off rocks at Wybung Head, south of Catherine Hill Bay, on Friday night.

She survived but they did not.

Stan Konstantaras from the Australian National Sportsfishing Association says none of the trio were wearing lifejackets.

He told Jill Emberson from 1233 ABC Newcastle Mornings that conditions were very dangerous in that particular spot on Friday night.

"Wybung, on that evening, was pretty notorious," he says.

"A southerly swell was pushing in, we had a really big spike in the swell between five and 7pm."

Stan says the swell increased up to 7m in that period.

He explains that there were safer spots only minutes away along the coast, but the group had been to Wybung once before and were familiar with it.

The rocky coast south of Lake Macquarie is a popular fishing destination for people from Sydney's Asian communities, and Stan says once they've driven all the way up from Sydney they're determined to fish no matter what the conditions.

"Inexperience, lack of safety gear as well, but it definitely seems to be those novices who really get caught out," he says.

Stan, who's the association's safety officer, says the area's accessibility and good fish stocks are an irresistible combination for many people.

"It's a great opportunity for a lot of people to put fresh fish on the table," he says.

"If you follow a few simple rules it's pretty safe."

But people continue to take deadly risks on the notorious stretch of coast, which is often hammered by big swell and is riddled with caves.

Two years ago a teenage girl and her boyfriend, along with a 20-year-old man, drowned while fishing at Flat Rock near Catherine Hill Bay.

In 2010 three men and two women from Hong Kong also died while on a rock-fishing expedition near Flat Rock.

Late last year the NSW government released a discussion paper to canvas the wearing of lifejackets while rock fishing.

But Stan says the debate has been "stifled".

"We've been kicked off a couple of committees that the Minister runs, which really concerns us," he says.

"Nothing's really happened for up to two years, things like appropriate lifejackets for rock fishing, a rock-fishing safety strategy.